[WriteLog] Enhancement requests for seeing impaired (Blind)

ken caruso ken caruso" <wo1n@arrl.net
Sun, 6 Oct 2002 21:03:14 -0400


Like Thom, WI8W discussed in his message from last August, I've been working
for the past two years with a blind ham (Joe, KY1B) to improve his
contesting abilities.

We've landed on Writelog because of its windows compatibility. He now enjoys
rig control and a fairly simple interface. Unlike Thom's friend he does not
have JAWS (JAWS is $600+ retail). He uses the Narrator that is built into XP
and is quite good for things like system menus and email etc., considering
it was no additional charge.

 I've operated beside him in contests and I believe the majority of his
issues can be resolved with two simple tweaks. Both could utilize an
(assignable) system sound on two key events. 1) Notify when the cursor is in
the home position and 2) Notify when the callsign is a dupe.

I could envision an extension to this that would allow unique sounds being
able to be assigned to each entry field to help id some of the more complex
exchanges like Sweepstakes. I'm assuming the software could utilize the
existing system sounds, so additional .wav files etc would not be required.

Perhaps these services already exist and need only be enabled by a .INI
setup?

Feedback appreciated,

Ken
WO1N
WO1N@arrl.net or here